Custody Battle
by Maric
Summary: Ranma's American family has come to Nerima to gain custody of him and take him back to America. Warning: This will be antiAkane, antifiancees, antiGenma, antiSoun, antiKunos, antiCologne, antiHapposai, and possibly antiNabiki.
1. Chapter 01: Guess who's coming to Nerima

Custody Battle  
Written By  
Mari and Myzorie's Companey

  
Disclaimer: All the Ranma characters are the © properties of Rumiko Takahashi. The Randelsons are the © properties of Mari and Skyler.

  
The Bold Font is written by Skyler (Thespian Soldier)  
The Normal Font is written by Mari  
  
~*~

Chapter 1  


It was a quiet nighttime in the city of Nerima, which is surprising considering its lively residents. All the citizens are already asleep, except for a certain pig-tailed martial artist, who is actually quietly reading a certain letter that he received earlier that day. With no interruptions or distraction he reads his letter in a closet where he cannot be bothered. As he reads, he thinks more and more of the people who wrote to him.   
Ranma ran a hand through his unusually messy black hair and allowed himself a sigh. This wasn't going to be pretty if they really did come to visit. The martial artist sat back on his heels and stared off into space in thought for a moment. Next week wasn't that far away. Ranma flipped the letter over in his hands to gaze at the picture taped to the back. Her brown eyes reflected patience and kindness even through the picture. "Aunt Ginako… Do you really want me to go?" He couldn't help but hope she would. He sighed again and stuffed the letter into the old shoebox with so many of the other letters like it before silently slipping from the closet and to his own bed.

* * *

****

"Ranma!" 

With a start the pigtailed boy rolled to the side before a bucket of cold water could come splashing down on him. "Kuno, what the hell are you doing here at this hour? And on a Saturday!" He demanded of the egotistical kendo club captain.

"Thou darest ask such a question of me Saotome! You have bruised the fragile feelings of Akane Tendo once to many!" The poetry spouting brunette lashed out at Ranma with his wooden kendo sword, only to have his blow dodged. He soon found himself on the floor with a very smug looking Ranma sitting Indian style on his chest.

"Now, Kuno… What's with the bucket of water there buddy?" Ranma motioned to the now empty bucket lying a few paces away.

"Quoteth Nabiki Tendo, 'to really get Ranma you must pour cold water on him while he's sleeping.'" Kuno closed his eyes and tilted his chin up in an all knowing manner. Ranma rolled his eyes. It was amazing this dufus could hold even the slightest air of dignity when in his position, but he guessed that having such a swelled head did that to a person.

"She did, did she? Well, we shall be having a talk very soon." With that Ranma deposited his feet on the floor and took off to find said Tendo girl. 

Kuno lay on the floor for a moment before jumping to his feet and exiting the Tendo Dojo. Ranma's destruction could wait till Monday. The blue eyed man's thoughts wandered randomly as he made his way home.

Meanwhile on the other side of the Earth, during the late afternoon, in the city of Los Angeles, California, a certain family was making some additional arrangements for a little trip that they were going to take. "And does the package includes reservations to any hotel of our choice?" Asked the woman on the phone. She was about 39 years old with mid back length black hair and brown eyes. This is Ranma's aunt Ginako. Gina to her American family. "And what about access to all the places that we want to visit?" She asked again. "That's all we need to know. Thank you." She hung up the phone and turned around to face the man that was in the room with her.

"So it's all settled then?" The man asked as Gina walked up and wrapped her arms around him.

"Yes everything is all set." She answered and gave him a small kiss on the lips.

The man was 42 years old and had short blonde hair and green eyes. He was also very well built and muscular. This man's name is Nick Randelson. He is Gina's husband. "Excellent, pretty soon we'll all be one big happy family." Nick encouraged his beautiful and devoted wife for 20 years.

"I certainly hope so." Said Gina with some concern. "It's been a long time since I left Nerima and this is the first time that we will meet our nephew. We only know each others by the letters we've been writing."

Nick held Gina closer to him and she placed her head over his heart. "Now don't you worry about anything." He reassured her. "We both wanted to do this since he first wrote to us when he was about five years old."

Gina looked up into his beautiful green eyes. "I know, it just that I want him to come with us on his own free will. Not like that idiot that I am ashamed to call my brother who never let him make a choice in his life." She told her loyal husband with some venom.

"Relax, Gina." He coaxed her while stroking her hair. "Remember how your family used to treat you?" He asked. "If Genma is anything like them then Ranma will definitely want to live with us." He gave her a reassuring kiss on the lips. Then they heard an energetic female voice calling to them.

"Mom! Daddy! Like, have you seen my neon green mini skirt?" A girl around 16 years old entered the room where Gina and Nick were. She had medium length blonde hair with pink bangs and her eyes were the same color as Nick's. This was their daughter, Nicki Randelson.

"I'm sorry Nicki sweetheart, but I'm afraid that you'll have to wear appropriate clothes on this trip." Gina told Nicki with a soft but firm tone in her voice.

****

"But Mom, like what if I meet a really cute guy on this trip?" Nicki gave a cute pout.

"Now Nicki, this is more than just a vacation." Nick reminded their teenage daughter. "We're going there to try and adopt your cousin Ranma."

"I know." She replied with a sigh. "It just that I want to make a good impression when we go."

"Now Nicki, you don't need to worry about things like that." Gina told her.

"But I do Mom! Appearance is everything these days! What if we go there and they, like, don't wanna hang out with me 'cause I'm not wearing the latest fashion!" She batted her eyelashes at her parent for emphases.

They both chuckled lightly at her antics. "Please dear, just be reasonable. We're not going to be away from home for very long and we would really appreciate it if you would just wear what your mother picked out." Nick said smiling at her lightly.

Nicki pouted for a total of .2 seconds before nodding her head and bounding up the stairs again.

Gina looked at her husband and shrugged her shoulders before moving toward the kitchen. "We're leaving tomorrow so you had better make sure everything is packed." As and after thought she added, "dinner will be ready in an hour."

After climbing the stairs, Nicki decided to stop by to her brother's room to make sure that he had everything prepared for their trip. She knocked on the door.

"Enter." Said a male voice and Nicki opened the door. Inside was a boy exactly Nicki's age. He had spiky black hair with a red headband, blue eyes, and his clothing was a choice of a Hawaiian shirt, green shorts and he had no shoes or socks. His name was Jackie Randelson. He is Nicki's twin brother. "Yo Sis! Whazzup!" He greeted.

"Like that is so 1999." Nicki responded.

"Hey Nicki, it's still a happening phrase." Jackie replied.

"Yeah, yeah. Have you finished packing for our trip to Japan tomorrow?" She asked.

"Relax, Sis. I got everything ready." He reassured her as he pointed to the one piece of luggage.

"That's all you're bringing?" Nicki questioned, not believing that her twin brother was only bringing one suitcase.

"Hey, it's only the basic niceties that I need, right?" He answered.

"Like thank goodness we've saved enough money for souvenirs and stuff." Nicki returned with a sigh.

Then Jackie picked this time to ask Nicki a question. "Hey Sis, do you think he might like living with us?"

"Well, with all that craziness, like, he's been living in, he'll be begging us to take him home with us." Nicki answered him in her usual manner.

"Yeah, but how will the people around here act about, you know, his condition?" Jackie asked her again.

"Jackie, we live in L.A." Nicki informed her not-so-clueless twin brother. "His 'condition' would be considered a normal lifestyle around here."

"Oh yeah." Jackie responded finally getting the picture. "Man, this trip is going to be awesome!"

"Yeah, and I can't wait teach everyone there a lesson." Said Nicki with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Especially that bitch, Akane Tendo."

"Now hey, Sis, remember that kind of behavior almost got you suspended from school." Jackie reminded his revenge hungry twin sister.

"Hey, you got two weeks suspension when you beat up that guy for cheating on his girlfriend." Nicki debated.

"But it was worth it." Jackie concluded with a big smile.

Just then there is another knock on the door. "Enter." Jackie addressed.

The door opened and there stood an adorable eight-year old boy with short blonde hair and small black eyes. (No he didn't get into a fight. That's his real eye color). Meet the youngest member of the Randelson family, Randy. "Hi, whatcha doing?" Randy asked innocently.

"Hey Randy, like, we're just talking about the trip we're taking." Nicki answered first.

"Yeah little Bro, It's going to be a real blast." Added Jackie while playfully mussing up Randy's hair.

Randy just gave out a little laugh. "So what's Japan really like? I've never been in another country before." He was very curious about it.

"Well…neither have we. But it's where Mom was born and lived." Nicki replied as best she could.

"And there are big mountains and oceans and lots of country fields." Jackie joined in.

"And Japan is where all of the cool anime and video games come from, like DragonBall Z and Sonic the Hedgehog." Nicki backed up with her twin brother.

"Not to mention all of the coolest electronics in the world." Jackie concluded.

"Oh wow this Japan place sounds like fun." Said Randy with a wide smile.

"You got that right Randy." Said Nicki.

"Kids, it's time for dinner." Gina called from downstairs.

"Coming, Mom!" The kids returned the call and left the room.  
  
~*~  
  
Captain's Log: Star Date 2003: What will happen when the Randelson go to Japan? How will the residents of Nerima react when they find that Ranma has family in America? Be sure to wait for our next chapter of Custody Battle.  
E-mail Skyler at:  
ThespianSoldier@aol.com  
E-mail Mari at:  
maricc@pyramd3.net  



	2. Chapter 02

Custody Battle  
Written by Maric, Skyler, Raquel, and Dane17

Disclaimer: All the Ranma characters are the © properties of Rumiko Takahashi. The Randelsons are the © properties of Mari and Skyler and Raquel and Dane17.

A/N: I would like everyone to meet my newest co-author for this fic. Dane17. She is also the author of "The Education of Ranma", so please make her feel welcome and check out her fics at www.fanfiction.net.

Chapter 2

After the evening's ruckus with Kuno and Nabiki had died down, Ranma once again thought about the letter he had been reading in secret. As he did so, he also thought back to when he first opened the letter in question.

Ranma had left the school grounds quickly that fateful Saturday afternoon. He had already made some excuses at the Tendo household that morning about having some errands to run, so as not to raise any suspicions. While his father tried for the umpteenth time to lecture him that all that was important was his fiancée and the Art, Mr. Tendo was under the impression that said 'errands' had something to do romantically with Akane, so convinced Genma to back down in his giddiness.

Ranma snorted at the thought. Romantic? Right. It was just the usual errands he had been running for well over a year, now. Some clothes, knick knacks, school supplies; stuff like that. Oh, yes. One more thing. The main errand he was running today. A trip to the post office.

A certain Nabiki Tendo watched as Ranma left the school grounds, then looked to her right and snapped her fingers. Immediately, a girl, most likely one of Nabiki's lackeys, appeared. Nabiki pointed at Ranma's retreating form and nodded her head. The other girl bowed and raced after Ranma.

Despite Ranma's earlier attempt that day to avoid suspicion, Nabiki had kept a wary eye on him all day. Nabiki was suspicious by nature. She prided herself on knowing everything that happened in Furinkan and especially about Ranma, and there was one thing about him that she just hadn't been able to crack yet. That was his bi-weekly jaunts into town.

Ranma had left the school every half Saturday like clockwork about a month after coming to the Tendos and settling into the usual routine of school, challenges, and fighting off fiancées. Only the greatest of emergencies or disasters would prevent this. It was the one thing that Nabiki had not gotten to the bottom of, and it frustrated her no end.

What Nabiki didn't know was that Ranma was on to her suspicions and curiosity. He might not have been able to outwit her in the other areas of their relationship, but he took his frequent trips to the post office quite seriously. As long as Genma did not know about them then there would be no problems. The only way Genma would know about them was if Nabiki knew about them. Therefore, Nabiki had to be kept in the dark.

This was why he was heading to the post office in a round about manner. He knew of Nabiki's lackey. She was the fifth one that Nabiki had sent after him from the school since the game of cat and mouse had begun.

Nabiki was also most likely calling in other girls to watch out for the route that Ranma was taking, and to follow after him. He had spotted them during his previous jaunts.

It was because of this that Ranma kept changing his routine during every trip. He had picked a post office as far away as possible from the Tendos that he could reach and return from in a short time by various means, thus insuring that nobody got suspicious about his errands because he stayed out too long. It also prevented Genma from finding out about Ranma's little secret.

This time, Ranma made a round about route to the train station. As he did so, he quickly noticed the other girls that Nabiki had no doubt called standing in alleyways and doorways. He internally smiled to himself. This was getting too easy.

From the various girls' points of view, Ranma was trying to catch the westbound commuter train. He just managed to dash into on e of the cars just before the doors closed, much to the girls' consternation. However, Ranma had taken the train before, so Nabiki had several agents already in place. Still, the girls following Ranma were dismayed at being unable to catch up to him.

Just as the train pulled away from the station, one of the girls, this being the lackey from Furinkan, turned around to see, to her amazement, Ranma leaping over the roofs of the nearby buildings in a southwesterly direction. She called out to her compatriots and pointed, but they all realized that it would be useless to continue the pursuit, as Ranma was, by now, long gone. Once again, he had given them the slip.

Ranma sauntered into the post office, confident that he had eluded any further pursuers. He went over to a P.O. Box and turned the dial in front of the small door, as he put in the combination. This was one of the features he had sought out when he had gone about picking out a post office to use, as having a key upon his person would have raised several suspicions. A simple, three number combination was much easier to remember and conceal.

Ranma opened the little door and found a letter envelope in the small cubicle behind it. He gingerly reached in and pulled the envelope out, then opened it.

It was all that Ranma could do not to let out a whoop of joy, as he read the letter's contents. He quickly folded the letter and put it into his shirt. He then closed the little door, threw the envelope into the trash receptacle, and then left the building.

Just one more day, he thought happily, as he bounced off the rooftops of various residences on his way home. _I just have to put up with all this madness just one more day._

At Los Angeles International Airport, a certain family of five was preparing to board a non-stop flight to Japan. Emotions from this group ranged from nervousness to excitement.

"Does everybody have everything they're taking on board with them?" Gina asked her children.

"Yes!" three voices said from behind.

"Good. It's going to be a long flight, so I want everybody to have enough amusements to last the trip."

"Last call for Flight 612 to Tokyo, now boarding at Gate Number Eight," a wall intercom blared.

"Well, that's our cue, guys," Nick told the group. "Let's go."

The group started down the loading ramp as one.

Nick looked up from the book he was reading to look up at his family. All were seated to his right, Nicki and Randy being seated across the aisle from him, Gina, and Jackie.

It had been several hours into the flight. A wonderful lunch had already been served and there was a pretty decent in flight movie that the family had seen, but time was starting to take its toll.

Little Randy had fallen asleep, his head resting on his big sister's right shoulder. Gina also looked exhausted, but for other reasons, Nick believed.

Nick gently nudged his wife. "You okay, honey?"

"I'm fine," Gina replied. "Just a little anxious, is all."

"Are you sure that you want to go there alone," Nick asked. "We could join you as backup."

"Thanks, but no," was his wife's reply. "It's best that I go alone, at first, to get the lay of the land, so to speak. That way, if there's any trouble later, we will have the element of surprise."

"Who knows?" she added. "We may get lucky, and get to take Ranma without much fuss.'

"That would be nice," Nick said, "but I get the feeling that Genma is not going to be so accommodating."

Gina sighed. "I'm afraid you're right about that. He was always the pig-headed sort.'

"Hey! That reminds me!" Jackie exclaimed. He started digging into the pockets of the light jacket he was wearing.

He quickly produced a bracelet-like device from his right waist pocket and handed it over to his mother. "Give this to Ranma, first chance you get," he said. "I've got a feeling that we're going to need it."

"What is it?" Gina asked.

"Oh, just a little something that I whipped up for this occasion," Jackie replied with a flare. He than leaned closer to his mother to explain the details of the device.

Gina gave off a little laugh when she heard her son's explanation. She quickly put the bracelet-like device into her shoulder bag and grinned. It would definitely be useful to them. "One thing's for sure," she turned to her husband, "this is definitly one family reunion that no one will ever forget."

"I have to take your word on that one." Nick agreed when he sees his wife getting tired. "Now why don't you get some rest, we have a long day tomorrow when we get there." He advised and Gina nodded in agreement. She settled in her seat to get comfortable and went fast asleep.

And as the plane flew across the ocean nearing the country of Japan, the sun starts to rise. Greeting the new day of what may come.

Well this seems that it's going to be an interesting trip. But what will happens when Gina confronts the Tendo's and her brother Genma? Will Ranma ever get to meet his long lost aunt? Find out next time in "Custody Battle"


	3. Chapter 03

****

Custody Battle

Written by

Mari and Skyyler Kaori and Raquel

New additions by Dane17

Disclaimer: All the Ranma characters are the © properties of Rumiko Takahashi. The Randelsons are the © properties of Mari and Skyler and Raquel and Dane17.

The Bold Font is written by Skyyler (Myzories Company)

The Normal Font is written by Mari

The Slanted Bold Font is written by Raquel

Chapter 3

It had been a semi-normal Sunday evening at the Tendo house with Ranma and Genma doing their usual 'training'. "Give back those sweet buns, Pops!" Ranma yelled at his father who is running off with a basket of sweet buns.

"You want them? You've got to fight for them!" Genma shouted back, and soon both father and son started fighting. "You call that a kick, boy!" Genma taunted Ranma, as the son gave his overweight father various degrees of kicks. "I felt rain drops harder than that!"

"Just shut up and fight back!" Ranma demanded while trying to get back the sweet buns Genma had taken from him. As usual, as in every previous fight, Ranma knocked Genma into the koi pond, but not before he rescued the basket.

In that moment, a giant panda emerged from the pond holding a sign. 'That was a cheap trick!' the signed said.

"Oh, please. Like you can ever fight fair in your life," Ranma replied, while eating some of the sweet buns. But without warning, the panda splashed water at the pig-tailed martial artist and he instantly turned into a red-haired female. "That does it!" Ranma-chan shouted and lunged at the fat panda Genma, and the two of them resumed fighting.

Meanwhile, Kasumi was washing the dishes from dinner the household recently had when she heard the doorbell ring. "Oh, my. I wonder who that could be at this hour?" Kasumi asked herself and turned off the sink to answer. When she opened the door, she saw a woman in her late thirties standing on the front porch. "Hello, may I help you?" Kasumi greeted with a respectful bow.

"Yes, is this the Tendo residence?" The woman visitor asked.

"Yes, it is. Would you like to come in?" Kasumi invited.

****

The raven-haired woman nodded politely and followed the oldest Tendo daughter into the rather spacious house. Gina nibbled nervously on her lower lip and wrung her hands together, as she stood behind the brown haired woman. She had opted to leave the rest of her family back at the hotel when she came to confront her brother, and now she was questioning that decision. No. It was too late to turn back now.

"Is Saotome Genma at home?" Gina asked calmly, her liquid brown eyes reflecting the nervousness that her voice didn't dare show.

Kasumi blinked at her for a moment. "Yes, he is. Would you like me to get him for you…" She let her sentence taper off, the silent question hanging in the air, waiting for a response.

"Saotome Ginako."

Kasumi's eyes widened momentarily, obvious surprise crossing her features. "J-just a moment, Ginako-san." She quickly scuttled off in the direction of the training dojo, leaving Gina to wait patiently for her return.

"Saotome-san! Ranma!"

The two combatants paused at the shout. "What?" they chorused together. Rather, Ranma-chan shouted and Genma signed.

"There's some woman here to see you, Saotome-san," Kasumi replied lightly, her face scrunching up slightly at the appearance the two were in. "You wait right there. I'll go get some hot water." She then quickly vanished back into the house.

Ranma-chan's eyes widened. _It couldn't be…could it? Was _She_ actually here?_

Genma-panda was looking a bit nervous. _What if it's another family that I've ripped off by promising Ranma to them?_ He thought, as he tried to think back to the times he conned various families.

Ranma-chan, on the hand, had this look of hope on her face. "Can it be, after all this time?" she asked herself as she quickly jumped out of the koi pond.

'Where are you going boy?' Genma-panda's sign asked, but Ranma-chan did not respond. 'Foolish boy.' Genma-panda turned his sign and got out of the pond to follow his gender-changing son.

"Okay, here's the hot water," Kasumi announced as she brought the kettle but Ranma-chan ran past by her.

"Oh, my! I wonder where he is going in such a hurry?" she asked, when Genma-panda came up to her.

'Beats me,' Genma-panda signed responded.

"Let me help you, Saotome-san," Kasumi volunteer, as she poured hot water on the panda.

"Thank you, Kasumi," Genma said in gratitude. "Now let's see what my son is up to."

Kasumi nodded in agreement and they both went to catch up with Ranma-chan.

Ranma-chan's thoughts were running around in her head when Kasumi said that they had a visitor. "I still can't believe that she's finally here after all this time!" she told herself, while searching for the person that she is hoping had arrived.

"Wait, Ranma!" Kasumi called out. This made Ranma-chan stop in her tracks.

"Was it, Kasumi?" Ranma-chan asked, still anxious to meet the visitor.

"You forgot this." Kasumi held up the kettle.

"Oh. Yeah. Thanks, Kasumi." Ranma-chan gratefully took the kettle and poured the hot water on herself, instantly turning into male Ranma, then he took off again, dropping the kettle.

"What could've possibly made my boy so excited?" Genma questioned, as he watched Ranma leave.

"Maybe it's got something do with our visitor," Kasumi assumed.

Genma had that mixed look of confusion and fear on his face when he heard what Kasumi said. He and Kasumi quickly followed after Ranma.

When Ranma reached the living room, he came across the female visitor who had been waiting there.

Ginako stood up when Ranma entered the room and they looked at each other for several seconds.

Ginako's liquid brown eyes locked on Ranma's blue eyes, which were starting to fill with tears.

__

It is her! She finally came. Ranma thought to himself, as he stood there, still thinking that it could be a dream.

__

At last! My nephew and I have met. Ginako told herself, with all sorts of thoughts running through her head.

They then decided to break the silence. "Aunt Ginako," Ranma whispered.

"Ranma," Ginako responded. Those were the first word that they had spoken to each other.

Ranma didn't know what else to do next. He was trying to fight the tears that are whelming up in him.

Then his aunt gave him some reassurance. "It's okay, Ranma," she spoke to him. "It's okay for a man to cry."

That's all that Ranma needed and he did what everyone else thought he could never do. He showed some emotion. "Aunt Ginako!" He cried with joy out as ran to his long lost aunt.

"Ranma!" Ginako called out, and the two of them met halfway and gave each other the biggest hug that they could give.

"Aunt Ginako!" Ranma actually cry to his heart content. All of his life he was told that real men don't cry but after seeing his aunt for the first time, all that he was told don't matter to him anymore.

"It's all right, Ranma," Ginako comfort him with tears flowing from her eyes and stroking his hair. "Everything is going to be all right," After all the tears and the emotional greeting, they broke their embrace.

"Let me look at you," Ginako said, as she held Ranma by his shoulders. "You've become so handsome since the last picture you send us."

"Oh, Aunt Ginako," Ranma responded wiping tears from his eyes. "You have no idea how much this means to me!"

"I know," Ginako confirmed.

****

The raven-haired youth quelled the urge to shed more tears and smiled gratefully up at his aunt. "Aunt Ginako? Do you really want me to go back to America with you?"

Ginako nodded her head enthusiastically, looking much like a small child in a candy store. "We would love to have you Ranma. Everyone has been looking forward to meeting you for so long."

Ranma's smile grew in intensity. He felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Aunt Ginako…do you really think that my old man will let me go? How…" He let his head drop forward. Suddenly, all the flaws in the plan hitting him head on.

Ginako squeezed Ranma's shoulders encouragingly and nodded, smiling. "You don't need to worry about that right now, Ranma. It'll all be taken care of. I promise."

Just then, Genma and Kasumi came into the living room. "Ranma, is everything alright?" Kasumi asked, as she and Genma saw Ranma with his Aunt Ginako.

Genma, on the other hand, wasn't all too happy at who he saw. "YOU!" he shouted, while pointing at Ginako.

"Hello, Genma," Ginako replied, looking at Genma with narrowed eyes. "It's been a long time." The last sentence was added with a smirk.

"Do you two know each other?" Kasumi asked the angry, fat, phony martial artist.

Pretty soon, the rest of the Tendo household came running to see what all the commotion was about.

"What is going on over there?" Soun demanded, when he saw Ranma with a raven-haired woman.

He quickly apologized to the newcomer. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know we had a guest."

"Hey! Would you keep it down!" Nabiki stepped into the room then saw Ranma with his Aunt Ginako. "Well, Ranma. It looks like you even attract older women," she said with a smirk.

"What was all that yelling about?" Akane inquired. Then she saw Ranma with an older woman, and there was only thing that came into her mind. "RANMA! YOU PERVERT!" she bellowed and whipped out her mallet, and started charging at Ranma and his aunt.

But before the mallet ever came down on Ranma's head, something held it back. Both Ranma and Akane looked and saw that it was Ginako who stopped the mallet from hitting Ranma. "You must be Akane," Ginako assumed.

**__**

"Huh? How did you know who I am?" Akane asked, very confused.

"Well, You're Ranma's fiancée, right?" Ginako asked.

"Yea… Well… Who are you?" Akane asked, once again very confused.

"I'm Ranma's Aunt. I'm Ginako Randelson," Ginako said nicely.

"You're - - he's - -." Akane could barely finish her sentence, she was so humiliated.

"Yeah. What'd you think?" Ranma replied sarcastically.

Before Akane could reply, she was interrupted by Ginako. "May I talk to you in private for a few minutes?" She indicated the kitchen as a viable spot.

Akane was so shocked by this that she nodded dumbly, and allowed Ginako to take her hand and lead her to the kitchen.

When Gina and Akane went to the kitchen to have their 'talk', everyone else turned to Ranma. "Well, son. Care to explain about all this?" Soun demanded.

Normally, when things like this happened to Ranma, he usually couldn't explain himself, because he had no idea what was going on. But now, with the help of his aunt, he could finally be able to stand up for himself.

"It's simple, really," Ranma stated. "I'm going to be adopted."

"ADOPTED!" Everyone repeated loudly, making Ranma cover his ears from all the shouting.

"Ranma! How could you let that woman do this sort of thing?" Genma ordered Ranma with fury.

"Okay, Saotome. What do you mean that you're going to be adopted?" Nabiki asked in her usual tone that she adopted when she wanted answers.

"My Aunt Gina and I have been wanting this for years," Ranma confessed. "Ever since I was eleven, I've been writing to her and I've told her everything that had been happening to my life."

"Tell me, old friend." Soun was addressing Genma at this moment. "How did you know this woman?"

"The woman, who I and the rest of my family are ashamed of, is my sister." For once, Genma actually gave an honest answer, with his head hanging low in shame.

"SISTER!" Everyone else, except Ranma, who already knew about it, echoed Genma's reply with extreme shock.

"Saotome, you never told me you have a sister!" Soun had no idea about his old friend's secret.

"That's because I never wanted to talk about it," Genma responded sourly. Then he worked on his fake tears. "She disgraced the family by marrying a… an… an American!" He spat out the last part with vengeance.

He then began his tale of that so-called tragic event. "It was about twenty years ago…"

Flashback

While Genma narrates the story, we now see a 19-year-old Ginako dressed up as a bride, standing next to some handsome, but arrogant looking groom. "It was a lovely summer's afternoon. She was supposed to be married on that day to a nobleman that our parents had picked out for her. Both of our families had gathered in the chapel for the event."

The chapel was filled with both families of the earlier Saotomes and the man that Ginako was supposed to marry. There, sitting on the front of the left side of the chapel were her parents and a younger Genma. "We were so proud that Ginako was about to bring honor to the family."

Everyone else looked happy for the married couple to be, except for Ginako, who had her mind on somewhere, or at least, someone else. "But then, just as the minister got to her, my disgraceful sister ran out of the chapel!"

Ginako picks up her dress, tells everyone that she can't marry the man that her parents have picked out for her because she is in love with someone else, and quickly runs out of the chapel.

End Flashback

"Ever since that day, my father automatically disowned Ginako, and we were sworn to never speak of her again."

"Oh, what a tragic story you have, Saotome!" Soun said with sympathy, fountains of tears gushing out of his eyes. "First, you have an ungrateful son. Now, you have a dishonorable sister. How I feel your pain!" The two so-called patriarchs just wailed their heads off.

Kasumi just gave them a compassionate look, while Nabiki and Ranma just sweat dropped from watching this pathetic scene.

"Oh my. What a sad story," Kasumi said.

"I'll say," added Nabiki with an impassive look. "She gave up all that money just for somebody she had just met. A foreigner, yet."

That's when Ranma gave her deadly glare. "I believe what my Aunt Ginako did was the bravest and smartest thing she has ever done," he said, while trying to keep his composure.

Genma and Sound immediately stopped crying when they heard Ranma make that remark and charged up to him.

"What's that suppose to mean, boy!" Genma demanded.

"It means, that unlike you, Aunt Ginako wanted to marry for love," Ranma replied, defending his aunt's honor.

Genma was startled by Ranma's answer. 'Since when did my son started to think?' he asked himself, then regained his senses. "Now, son, you know that we have to do some things for the sake of honor," he stated for the umpteenth time, trying to make his point.

"You mean, marry for money?" Ranma was now questioning his greed hungry father. This was baffling Genma no end.

"Now, son." It was Soun's turn to try to reason with Ranma. "Your father and I mean well. It's so that you and Akane will be happy."

"You mean you and Pop will be happy," Ranma stated, having long ago come to the realization that this was the true reason for the two fathers always trying to bring the schools together. "All you two ever do is try to force us to get married so that you can combine the schools, which means more money for either of you."

Both Genma and Soun were shocked when they heard that. "How… Dare… You… Insult… Us… Like… That!" Soun exclaimed in fury.

"Do you wish to be disowned from this family?" Genma threatened. Normally this would make Ranma beg for mercy, but this time it didn't. He just stood there and stared straight into the eyes of the two men.

"Go ahead then!" Ranma tersely replied up for himself. "I'll be out of here anyway and I'll never have to deal with you two ever again." Then he left the room, leaving a speechless Genma and Soun.

Both Kasumi and Nabiki were shocked by Ranma's courage. "Oh my," Kasumi simply said.

"It looks like Ranma has a backbone after all," Nabiki concluded with a smirk.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Ginako was having a short discussion with a still flustered Akane.

"I see that some explanations are in order," Ginako said gently.

Akane nodded dumbly.

"First, as to why we're here, and not with the rest of the pack, is that I thought it best that we have a quiet discussion, rather than be part of the war that is most likely erupting in the main entrance."

Akane nodded in understanding then got a quizzical look on her face.

Ginako apparently could read her mind. "Well, what you heard is correct. I am indeed Ranma's aunt," Ginako said.

Akane's expression was now one of shock.

"Yes, it is amazing, isn't it?" Ginako continued. "I have the misfortune to be the younger sister of that fat tub of lard that passes for Ranma's father."

"You're Mr. Saotome's sister?" Akane exclaimed incredulously. "He never mentioned ever having one, or parents, for that matter."

"Well, I'm sort of persona non grata with the rest of the family," Ginako replied with a grin. "And from what I've gathered, our folks want nothing to do with big brother, either."

"That is, if they're still alive," Ginako added thoughtfully. "I haven't heard from them in nearly twenty years."

"That's awful," Akane exclaimed.

Ginako smiled at this. From Ranma's letters, Akane did have a compassionate streak in her. It was this that made everything else so utterly bizarre and beyond comprehension. Ginako went back to the business at hand. "Thank you. However, I'm not really bothered by it. I have a loving husband, three wonderful children, and great in-laws."

"Then why are you here?" Akane asked, dreading the answer.

"To take Ranma back home with me," was Ginako's reply.

"Take him back home with you," Akane repeated, still not know Gina was talking about, "is it another training trip for him?"

"Actually it's a little more than that." Gina hinted at the youngest Tendo

"Then what ever for?" Akane asked Ranma's estranged aunt some more.

"My family and I are going to adopt him." Gina confessed.

"WHAT? ADOPT HIM?" Akane echoed in shock when she heard that.

**Gina nodded in reply to her outburst, schooling her features into one of patient understanding. "That's right. Ranma has been writing to me for years about his situation here, and it's no place for a young man to grow up."**

"But…but…" Akane's eyes were wide in disbelief, her mind unable to fully comprehend the meaning behind Gina's words. "He's choosing to go back to…America…with you?" She questioned after a moment of silence had passed between them.

"That's right. It isn't fair for either of you to be forced into a marriage with each other if there is no love there, and I am going to prevent such a thing from happening." The woman replied matter-of-factly.

"But our fathers have…"

Gina brought a hand up to silence the young fighter, her expression still one of patience. She hadn't imagined that this would be easy, and now she found herself somehow pitying this girl before her. It was obvious that she had some sort of feelings for Ranma, though it was difficult to tell exactly what they were and how far they extended. "I know of the foolish ideas your idiot fathers have, but I know exactly what it's like to be forced into marriage, and I'm not going to let that happen to my dear nephew." ****

Akane opened her mouth to protest again but snapped it shut, then repeated the process, effectively imitating a fish.

"Now I wish to ask you a personal question." Ginako requested, "How do you feel about Ranma?"

"Ranma?" Akane repeated quizzically, "He's nothing more than a pervert!"

"I said how you feel not what you think about him." Ranma's estranged aunt made it clear to Akane. She wasn't very please of this girl said about her nephew.

"But he… that is… you don't know what he is!" Akane stuttered, not liking the way this woman was looking at her.

"Is this has something to do about his curse?" Ginako guessed.

Akane couldn't believe what she just heard. _Does she already know about Ranma's curse side? _"I… I don't know what you mean." She tried her best to cover up her situation.

"I think I was talking about his curse that he got from a place in China called Jusenkyo." Ginako persisted even more in trying to get Akane to tell the truth.

"But how did you know about it?" It was now Akane's turn to ask questions.

"He told me about it." Ginako stated matter of factly.

"He told you?" Akane duplicated Ginako's words. She had no idea that Ranma was brave enough to tell anyone.

"Yes he did," Ginako simply confirmed, "Ranma tells me everything. We've been writing each other since he was a young boy."

"You knew about Ranma's curse and you still want to adopt him?"

"But of course I do. Just because he can change genders that doesn't make him pervert." Ginako was making her point. "Hell where I live, his curse would be considered as normal."

****

Akane still couldn't wrap her mind around these new revelations. She should be happy he was going to leave, relieved. And where in the world would be it is considered normal to change genders? "Normal?" It seemed her brain only wanted to form questions today.

Gina nodded her head. "We live in a very interesting town and Ranma would be more excepted there then anyplace else I think. It is very obvious that both of you are unhappy with this foolish arrangement, so why do you seem so upset?" He voice was very soft now, the kind of voice you would use when trying to sooth a small child.

Akane couldn't answer. She took a deep breath, as if to reply, but nothing came out. Why was she so unhappy about this? _He's just a stupid pervert! _She reminded herself sternly, eyes darting between Gina and the floor. Finally she settled on studying the floor tiles, tracing the patterns with her eyes while she waited for Gina to speak again. She fidgeted nervously after several beats of silence and brought her eyes up again to meet Gina's. The eye contact lasted no more then a second before she was once again studying to tiles. "I…" She squared her shoulders stiffly. "I'm not upset! If he wants to leave then good! That's one less problem for my family!" And with that she beat a hasty retreat, the feeling that nothing had been resolved, that yet more problems and regrets now hung in the air, haunted her as she made her way to her bedroom.

__

That poor girl. Ginako thought as she watch Akane left the kitchen. _This must harder on her than I anticipated. It's not easy being young these days. _Then she checked the time on her watch. _Looks like I might as well get going. _She gets up and leaves as well.

Back at the living room, the rest of the Tendo Family and Genma were trying to what to make of this whole adoption thing.

"What are we going to do Saotome?" Soun pleaded to his partner for help, "if your sister ever adopts Ranma then the schools will never join!" He let out his trademark tears of sorrow.

"Do not fret Tendo," Genma tried his best to calmed Soun, "there's no way that Ginako will get away with this!" he declared.

"Get away with what?" a female voiced asked from behind.

Both Genma and Soun looked up and see Ginako standing next to them. Neither of them didn't know she was there nor heard her coming.

****

Gina crossed her arms and adopted a stance of irritation, staring defiantly back at the two men. She waited patiently for their response before asking again. "Get away with what?"

Genma and Soun glowered back at her, refusing to acknowledge her question.

"What do you want?" Genma demanded after a beat of tense silence, crossing his own arms to mirror his sister's defensive posture.

"An answer to my question would be a nice start," she spat vehemently.

Genma looked as though he had swallowed something sour, his face twisting into a dark scowl. "You'll never get away with _this_!" his fumed, waving his arms frantically about the room. "This stupid little scheme of yours. Ranma is _my_ son, and you will not adopt him. He has a duty to his father."

Gina blinked in surprise at the outburst before narrowing her eyes again. "A duty to his father?" She hissed. "What about your duty to your son? Do you think that poor boy is happy here? Do you even listen when he talks to you? And you!" She exclaimed, turning on Soun, "what about your daughter? Have either of you considered their feelings in all this? You're both behaving like selfish children!" And with that she turned on her heel and stormed from the house, manners and politeness be damned.

"Oh my please don't leave?" Kasumi pleaded as she went after Gina.

Gina stopped momentarily "Is there something that want young lady?" She switched from anger to concern after she heard the oldest Tendo daughter calling to her.

"I sorry if my father and your brother were being rude to you." Kasumi apologized with a polite bow. "It's just tonight was so eventful and we we're still unsure about everything."

"It's alright my dear," Gina showed that there are no hard feelings, "in fact I should be the doing the apologizing for my behavior since I wanted this to be a civilized matter."

"I understand Mrs. Randelson."

"Please call me Gina, Kasumi." Gina assisted.

"Are you sure that is okay?" Kasumi wasn't sure if she should be so informal to Ranma's aunt.

"But of course," Gina gave Kasumi a reassuring smile, "my nephew told how kind you've been to him even though he has his curse."

"You already know about Ranma's curse?" Kasumi was surprised when Gina knew about it.

"Yes indeed I have," Gina admitted freely, "like I told your sister Akane, Ranma told me about it. He tells me everything."

"But how is it possible…" Kasumi just remember what Ranma told her family. "Oh yes, Ranma said that he's been writing to you ever since he was eleven."

"Yes but he had to write me and my family in secret." Gina told Kasumi.

"Now I understand," the eldest Tendo daughter realized why Ranma did so, "if Mr. Saotome ever found what Ranma did then you'll never be able to adopt him."

"So now do you see why this is so important to Ranma?" Gina asked Kasumi.

"Yes, yes I do," Kasumi came to an agreement, "but would you at least stay for a while longer?"

"I would love to," Gina have to gently take a rain check on Kasumi's offer, "but I must return to my family right away."

"I see." Kasumi hang her head a little in disappointment.

"But if you decided to check up on Ranma please tell him that we are staying at this hotel." Gina handed Kasumi a hotel card. "Oh and one more thing," she reached in her purse, "if you have a chance please give Ranma this bracelet that my son made for him" Gina also handed the Kind Tendo daughter the bracelet. "With all the confusion I almost forgot about it."

"Very well then," Kasumi accepted her offer, "I'll let Ranma know where you are. Please visit us anytime you like and bring your family as well." She finished with another bow.

"Okay," Gina took up on her suggestion; "it was nice meeting you Kasumi." She said her goodbye and exited the Tendo house.

"Same here Gina," Kasumi responded with a smile as she waved goodbye to Gina. "Bye." And softly closes the door. "Maybe I should give Ranma these right now." She told herself and headed upstairs to the guestroom.

At that moment Ranma was in the guestroom lying on his futon thinking of ways trying to get this adoption thing to work. 'There's just gotta be a way to make Pops let Aunt Ginako adopt me.' During his mind wondering there was a knock on the door. "Yeah who is it?"

"Ranma are in there?" Kasumi asked through the door.

"Is that you Kasumi?" Ranma asked back.

"Yes it is me." Kasumi responded.

"Okay you can come in." Ranma invited her and Kasumi opened the door.

"I thought I let you know that your Aunt Ginako just left." Kasumi informed the pig-tailed martial artist.

"What! Aw man, and I didn't ever say good-bye to her." Ranma felt bad about not seeing his aunt leave after waiting for years to meet each other.

"It's okay Ranma," Kasumi place a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure with all of this happening you probably lost track of time." She gave him her famous kind smiles. "Before she left she asked me to give you these." Kasumi handed Ranma the hotel card and the bracelet. "Here's a card of the hotel that she and her family are staying and a bracelet that her son made just for you."

"Really? Thanks Kasumi." Ranma happily received the small gifts. "I think I should go see them tomorrow." He speculated his idea. "What do you think Kasumi?" Wanted her opinion.

"I think it's a wonderful idea Ranma." She approved, "I believe that they all wanted to meet you after you've been writing to each other for so long."

"Okay then it's settled," Ranma concluded, "but I must ask you to promise me that you would not let everyone know about it." He gave her a pleading look. "Not our fathers, not your sister, and especially the old freak."

"Oh my I don't know Ranma." Kasumi doesn't like to keep secrets from her family.

"Please Kasumi," Ranma beseeched, "if anyone knows about this then the whole town would most likely to hunt Aunt Ginako and her family."

Kasumi sees from Ranma's point of view. If word gets out then their families, his rivals, fiancees, the Amazons, and the Old Pervert will go into desperate measures to prevent Ranma from leaving Nerima. "Okay I promise Ranma." She gave him her word.

"Thank you Kasumi," Ranma showed his appreciation, "for understanding how important this is for me."

"I know Ranma, I know." Kasumi fully values Ranma's trust in her. "Now why you don't get some sleep so that you can fresh and early to meet your aunt's family."

"Okay Kasumi and thanks again." Ranma was being grateful of Kasumi's benevolence and gets ready for bed.

"You're very welcome Ranma and goodnight." And with that Kasumi left Ranma so that he can get his sleep for tomorrow.

Ranma secretly slipped the hotel card and bracelet so that his father won't get them and tried to stop him from seeing his Aunt Ginako again. 'Man I can't wait to see my new family tomorrow.' The young Satome was so excite of meeting Gina's family. 'I hope they'll be okay about my curse.' He started think about how they would react to his blight. 'Of course Aunt Ginako told me in one of her letters that they would have no problem with it since they see stuff like that all time from where they live.' He begins to feel relax about it. 'This Los Angeles place must be a lot easier on people with my condition.' After that on his final thought Ranma drifted into an easy slumber and dreams of his new life in L.A.

It looks like that Ranma my like living in Los Angeles, CA. where his curse would be considered to be normal. But would the dummy duo (Genma and Soun) try to find away to put a stop to this? And what if the NWC ever hears about this? If so, how would they react to it? These questions and more will be answered in our next chapter of "Custody Battle"


	4. Chapter 04: Sightseeing

**Custody Battle**

By

Maricruz(Mari, Maric, Maricc, Mar, Animeiac, Anime-iac)

co-authored by Baran3

Disclaimer: All of the Ranma characters are © properties of Rumiko Takahashi. The Randelsons are © properties of Mari and Skyler, ,Jennifer (koneko_101), and Baran3

Bold Font is written by Skyyler (Myzories Company) [her final additions are the first six paragraphs.]

Normal Font is written by Mari

Italic Font is written by Jennifer

A/N: I have good news and bad news. The good news is that co-author, koneko_101, recently joined the Navy. The bad news is that I have to let go so that she can concentrate on her training and study. On the bright side I have a new co-author. Say hello to Baran3^_^

Chapter 04: Sightseeing

~*~

The following day dawned bright and early for Ranma, the cheerful chirping of the birds like a sign of good things to come. The young man rubbed his hands together nervously and breathed out a deep sigh. Pushing himself up from his futon, he quickly changed into a pair of black gi pants and long sleeved Chinese style blue shirt. He slipped on the handmade bracelet under the cuff of his sleeve, making sure the fabric covered it completely. He paused, getting ready to listen for the telltale sounds of breakfast being served, and was relieved to hear that both his father and Soun were indeed sitting down to eat with the rest of the household. Fortunately for Ranma he can perform the Umisenken for situations like this. He puffed out another calming breath before tossing up a prayer to any gods who may have been listening and dashing out the back and through the garden. He kept a wary eye out for anyone who may have been following him as he made his way to the hotel, backtracking and taking side trips when that niggling feeling of being watched began to surface.

**It was a quarter past eleven**** when he finally reached the hotel and a feeling of relief washed over him**** as he was sure he dodged a few bullets regarding some of the more wandering members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew****. Quickly stepping into the lobby he made his way toward the front desk, the balding man behind the counter smiling at him in that speculative, snooty way only fancy hotel managers could perfected.**

"**Um, I'm looking for the Randelson family," he said quickly, his eyes darting nervously about the plush interior.**

**The man nodded briskly, the clicking of computer keys filling the air. **

"**They're in room 417," the man said after a beat of silence, pointing to a set of polished gold elevators. The dark haired youth nodded a quick thank you to the man and made his way to the elevators, the butterflies in his stomach moving over to accommodate the swarm of angry bees that had taken its place. He had never been so nervous before in his life.**

"Well, here goes nothing," Ranma told himself and politely knocks the door.

"Who is it?" said a familiar woman's voice.

"It's Ranma, Aunt Ginako." Ranma recognized his aunt's voice from behind the door. The door opened and revealed Ginako.

"Oh, Ranma, I'm so glad that you are here!" she greeted her nephew with a hug.

"Same here, Aunt Ginako." Ranma hugged back his aunt.

"Please come in," Gina invited Ranma to their hotel room, "everyone's been wanting to meet you."

"Thanks, Aunt Ginako." Ranma gladly accepted her invitation and entered the room.

"Nick! Kids! Ranma's here!" Gina called for her family. The rest of Ginako's family came running in to meet Ranma for the very first time.

"So, this is the Ranma we've heard so much about." said Nick.

"Ooh, he's cute." Nicki complimented Ranma.

"Yo dude, what's up?" Jackie greeted.

"He looks like you, Mama." Randy compared Ranma to Ginako and smiled.

Looking at the two of them proved that the same blood flowed in their veins. They had the same cheekbones, nose and eye structures, and even the same shade of hair. Only the sexual attributes, age and height separated the nephew from his aunt.

"Okay everyone, why don't we give Ranma some room." Ginako laughed a bit at the sight of the attention Ranma was getting from her family. "Ranma, why don't go and sit down so you can settle in."

"Okay, Aunt Ginako." Ranma found a couch and sat there. His three cousins joined him as well.

"So, what do you think, Nick?" Ginako asked her husband.

"Well, he seems pretty normal." Nick observed Ranma, who looked slightly nervous. "Of course, from what he's been through, telling us through his letters, I'm surprised the kid hasn't gone psycho yet."

"That's why I want us to get him out of here." Ginako said, making her point. "If Ranma stays here with Genma, not only he'll be a danger to himself, but to everybody else around him."

"I see your point." Nick understood his nephew's problem. "But how are you going to make your brother give us custody of Ranma?"

"Well, knowing Genma, he would have a criminal record since he was trained by his master." Ginako conducted her plan of action. "All we have to do is look for it, and present it to the court, and if they ask for Ranma into the stand, he'll have to tell them the truth. At least initially it will be that simple. After the first volley, the stupidity of my brother will show up and Hell will break loose."

"That's a good plan, Gina." Nick complimented on his wife's thinking. "But do you think it will work?"

"I hope so, Nick," Ginako prayed, "for Ranma's sake."

Back to Ranma on the couch, there was an awkward silence between him and cousins. They have been staring at each for quite a while now, waiting to see who will speak first. Ranma wasn't sure what to say; this was the first time he met his new found family. Now, he felt even more nervous than before. He kept on fiddling his fingers, and his eyes went from looking at the kids, to the floor, back to his cousins, and so on.

Finally, Randy thought it would have been a good time to break the ice.

"So, is it true that you can turn into the girl?" Of course, that's was the ice breaker not everyone had in mind.

"Randy!" Nicki and Jackie scold their little brother, since they knew it made him feel uncomfortable talking about it.

"_Um, I don't mind, and yes, I do." Ranma chuckled at the smallest of his cousins._

"_Really?" Randy smiled, causing the others to smile around him. "How do you change?"_

"_Well, how about I just show you?"_

"_Kay!" _

_Ranma stood up and went into the small kitchen they used with the others right behind him. He turned on the sink faucet and splashed himself with cold water, turning him into a girl instantly. His cousins were in awe as they witnessed this change. _

_Gina and Nick entered the kitchen only to face a red-haired Ranma and their awe-struck children._

"_WOW! That's so cool!" all three of his cousin exclaimed. _

_Gina and Nick just smiled softly, glad that their children accepted this strange boy's curse._

"_It's not that cool. __It made my life miserable ever since I got it.__There are others who change into different stuff." Ranma mumbled, blushing softly because no one really thought that his curse was "cool."_

"_For real? Like what?" Jackie asked, wondering what else people in Japan can change into._

"_There are people who change into a pig, a duck, a mix of yeti, eel, crane, ox and octopus, and a-" Ranma paused for a moment, his face showing fear._

"_And what?" Nicki asked. _

_Gina knew what was coming; Ranma's worst fear._

"Okay kids, how about you and your cousin Ranma go on a little sightseeing?" Gina stepped in to save Ranma the embarrassment. "Ranma, since you know this town so well, can you can give them a tour? Your uncle and I have some business to attend to." She felt a momentary feeling of worry by letting her children alone in the so-called Mecca of Martial Arts, but she was confident that she had taught them enough skills to defend themselves. '_At least again anyone under the skill of Ranma and his closest rivals, and my nephew will ensure nothing happened to them. They're family after all._'

"Sure, Aunt Ginako." Ranma was somewhat relieve that Gina got him out of that tight spot.

"Okay, here are some spending money for some souvenirs and maybe something to eat, but don't spend too much. After all, we need have enough to last us on this trip." Nick gave Ranma and the kids about 10,000 yen each to let them buy whatever they want.

"Yeah! Shopping money!" said Nicki excitedly, since she loves to shop.

"No one has ever just given me money before." Ranma admitted. "Usually, I have to make a deal with a certain someone just to borrow some." He was referring to Nabiki, of course. Although it would be good for once to be able to use money to buy some snacks and play a few games without having to use his girl-side cuteness against poor hormonal male teenagers.

"Well, dear, this is on us." Gina reassured her nephew and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Now, you and the kids go out and have a good time."

"Okay, and thanks." Ranma and his cousins left the hotel room with the youngest one closing the door from behind.

"That went better than what I've expected." Nick complimented his kids' behavior towards Ranma's curse.

"Oh, what did you expect?" Gina gave her husband the signature Ranma cocky look.

"Oh, I don't know; a lot screaming and yelling, possibly a riot and an angry mob with torches and pitch forks." Nick joked.

"Well, lucky for us, we raised our kids better than that." Gina playfully punched his arm, laughing softly.

_With Ranma and his cousins, they wandered around an alley full of shops near the hotel._

_Nicki looked around all excited to go shopping in an actual Japanese store._

"_I'm going to leave you guys, so let's meet up at that restaurant." Nicki said, pointing at a restaurant nearby, a restaurant Ranma hoped to stay away from; the Cat Café._

"_Do we really have to? Can't we meet up somewhere else? Like the hotel?" Ranma questioned with a shaky voice.__It seemed that all his efforts to dodge a certain purple cyclist from hell and a blind duck would be vain._

"_But we have to eat." Jackie said in a monotone voice. Randy just looked at a candy shop nearby. _

"_But does it have to be that restaurant?" Ranma sounded a bit pathetic, but there was no way he was going in there._

"_It sounds cute, so it's final; we're going there." Nicki said, and that was the end of that conversation. She ran over to a shop full of clothes, leaving Ranma, Jackie, and Randy alone._

"_So, uh, do you have any suggestions on where to go?" Jackie asked Ranma. _

_Ranma glanced at Randy, who was staring at the candy store._ _"Why don't we stop by the candy store for Randy?" _

_The boys walked into the candy store and bought Randy some candy. They even bought some candy for themselves._

"Man I can't believe we paid 500 yen for a small box of pocky." Jackie couldn't believe how much the sweets cost in Japan. "I mean I could get a bigger box for about $3.50 back in the states."

"Just be glad that they were on sale." Ranma did his best console his cousin. "If it wasn't, you would've paid 1300 yen instead of 500 yen."

"Well, where shall we go next?" Jackie got over his problem quickly.

"Well, I think there's an arcade nearby." Ranma guessed.

"Please tell me that you mean a video game arcade." Jackie hoped. Is there any other kind of arcade?

"Yeah. What did you think I said?"

"Awesome let's go!"

_After a couple hours of mindless games, the three boys left the arcade in bliss, __although the Randelson brothers were pouting a little after meeting Ranma's Anything Goes Martial Art branch of Video Fighting Games. A few of those games WEREN'T supposed to allow Ultimate-Instant-Death-Combo, and that new technique called "Mouko Takabisha"... At least Jackie managed to win a few games when he teased Ranma by choosing female characters that looked like or moved like his girl-side. Ranma was even suspicious about the appearance of some that were TOO MUCH alike._

"_That was fun. What time is it?" Ranma asked Jackie. _

_Jackie glanced at his wrist watch._ "_It's 10 till noon, so I think we should head over to the cafe soon." he replied. Ranma had to stop himself from shivering._

"_I'm hungry!" Randy piped, breaking Ranma's concentration, causing him to shiver. _

_Unfortunately, Jackie caught him in action. "_ _You ok, Ranma?" _

_Ranma weakly nodded. _

"_Well, then we should start heading there. Let's go." Jackie grabbed Randy's hand, leading him through the crowd of people. _

_Ranma followed as slow as he can. He wanted to prolong his soon-to-be death. What would she think if she saw Nicki? Would she jump to conclusions? Even if she doesn't, he'd have to explain to her why he's with Nicki and her brothers, which may lead to him telling her about him moving to a different country, which may also lead to her following him or beating the crap out of him or the Randelsons._

"_Maybe I should tell them I'm sick. Sick of that place. Plus, it'd be rude, and they probably won't believe me...Maybe Randy would..." he mumbled. By the time he finished mumbling, he smacked right into someone; Nicki._

"_Hey Ranma! I was looking for you!" _

_Ranma must have had a confused face, because Nicki giggled. _

"_Jackie told me that he lost you, so you probably weren't far behind."_

Ranma tried to think up a good excuse. "Well I, uh, had to buy something on my way here."

"Like what, dude?" Jackie got curious of Ranma's behavior.

"Oh, nothing important, just a pair of these." Ranma held up a pair of sunglasses that he bought before they entered the arcade to a street vendor, and then walked with his cousins. Ranma was still learning on how to be good with disguises ever since he's been using his girl-disguises on Ryoga just to learn about a new cure or technique or that one time he was spying on Ryoga and Akane on that date they had. But somehow he could manage to pretend to be another, at least for a few moments… Or perhaps his rivals and fiancées were as naïve as him…? Naaaah…

"Is that all, cuz?" Nicki wondered why he would need a pair of sunglasses.

All they were doing was going inside the Cat Cafe.

"Trust me; they'll be useful once we go in." Ranma put on the sunglasses.

"Okay, if you say so." Jackie accepted Ranma's answer as the four kids entered the restaurant.

Once they got in, they were greeted by one person Ranma hope he'd never have to see today of all days.

"Ni hao! Welcome to Cat Cafe." A female, purple-haired Amazon introduce herself. "I am Shampoo, and I'll be your server for today."

"Whoa, if the Chinese chicks are cute as you, then I'll eat Chinese food everyday for the rest of my life." Jackie said, trying his charm on Shampoo.

Shampoo didn't like to be flirted with, especially by white smelly barbarians or in contact range. But it was a customer and there was a female in their party, so she decided to let it slide for now. She led her customers to their table.

The youngest boy was on one side while the two older boys and the girl sat on the other side.

For some odd reason, Shampoo had the urge to push the girl off her chair, away from what it looked like her Airen. They could have been brothers and sisters, or cousins at the most, but Shampoo has a one track mind, especially when her Airen was concerned and no matter the age difference. One day, she surprised herself by refraining to bark at an elderly woman who was simply asking for help to her obviously grandson that looked like a little like Ranma with a black ponytail and a red T-shirt, so she didn't see this option in the present situation. She shook her head, abandoning her urges and waited for them to get settled.

Nicki was about smack some sense into Jackie, when she suddenly just realized where she heard that name before. It was in one of Ranma's letter, telling them that he once beat a girl named Shampoo twice. The first fight was when he and his father accidentally ate the prize for an Amazon tournament. Because he was a girl when this had happened, Shampoo had gave him the Kiss of Death, a vow stating that Shampoo will chase Ranma to the ends of the Earth just to kill him. The second time was when he kicked one of Shampoo's Bonbori's away when she was about to attack Akane, but this resulted in him getting a Kiss of Marriage.

'So that's why Ranma bought the sunglasses.' Nicki thought, thinking that he wanted to disguise himself, so that this Shampoo chick wouldn't recognize him.

"_What __any you__ like __today__?__" Shampoo asked the four customers, smiling really big. Three of them looked like they were foreigners, but the person with the sunglasses looked vaguely familiar. She just decided to brush this off, even though this one customer was cute, but not as cute as her Ranma. She handed them the menus and waited for a moment for them to decide._

"_I'll have the udon!" Jackie ordered__, a little surprised to find Japanese dishes in a Chinese restaurant, but he supposed that the need to appeal to the average Japanese was a requirement in the Food industry._

_Randy pointed at the pot stickers._

"_Hm, my cousin and I will have ramen, and we all will have ice tea." Nicki ordered, relieving Ranma of his ongoing stress. _

_Ranma glanced at Nicki, wondering if she knew who Shampoo was. He does remember that he mentioned Shampoo in his letters, but he didn't know if Aunt Ginako told his cousins. _

_Nicki caught his __worried __glance, winking at him in return. _

_Ranma smiled softly, knowing that she knew and won't tip Shampoo off, but did Randy and Jackie know?_

"_Ok. Be right back with your order." Shampoo scribbled on her small notebook, walking through the kitchen door. _

_Nicki waved Jackie and Randy closer._

"_From now on, Ranma will be called Lenny, ok?" Nicki whispered, hoping no one but them would here their conversation._

"_Why? Is there something wrong?" Jackie asked. _

_Randy just shut his eyes, trying to engrave this new information into his brain._

"_Do you know who that was? The waitress you were just flirting with?"_

"_Yeah, a Chinese native."_

"_You idiot! That was the girl that pledged herself as Ranma's wife! That's Shampoo!" Nicki raised her voice, but not enough for other people to turn their heads towards them._

"_Shampoo? Oh, her! Wait, why is her name Shampoo? Just a minute! So that's why Ran – I mean Lenny bought sunglasses."_

"_Yeah. So here's the backup story: Lenny is our cousin, visiting his country after being in America for so long. He's been blind since he was a baby, hence the sunglasses. Alright? And let me do the talking, unless she's not around. We don't want to jeopardize our chances of smuggling Ranma out of this hell place." _

_The others nodded. _

_Shampoo walked out of the kitchen with their orders. Her customers were close together, like they were having a conversation._ "– _out of this hell place." was the only thing that she heard as she walked towards them. She frowned. Did they not find this place to their needs? She breathes slowly, calming herself down. Maybe they couldn't wait to go back to their original country. She placed their orders in front of them. _

_They had a shocked face, wondering if Shampoo heard them. _

_Shampoo just smiled at them, acting like nothing happened._

"_Here are your orders. The total is 2500 yen." _

_They just nodded and started eating. _

_The one with the sunglasses still haven't taken __them __off, but that was okay. _

_Shampoo left for the kitchen, getting other customers their orders._

"_That was a close call." Jackie sighed. _

_The others just nodded. They continued eating with their small conversations between them._

"So what do you guys want to do after lunch?" Ranma/Lenny asked his cousins.

Nicki was about to suggest to do some more shopping when she heard some sort of commotion. She looked slightly to her right, and she saw the same purple hair Chinese girl beating up on some poor yet cute guy with long hair and bottle lens glasses.

"Shampoo said no for a thousandth time!" she yelled at the boy.

_The boy just hunched his back, submitting to her ferociousness._

"_I wonder what's going on." Nicki mused. _

_The other customers stopped eating and turned towards the commotion. The rest turned around and watched also._

"_When Shampoo said no, she means no! Plus, Shampoo is Ramna's wife," she yelled at the boy. _

_He just cowered in fear. _

_Nicki didn't like how Shampoo treated the boy. She was nice to them just a minute ago. Nicki sighed._ '_Guess that proves that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover,' she thought, getting up from her seat. _

_Ranma and the others turned their attention to Nicki, who was walking up to Shampoo and the boy._

"_Now go away, Mousse, Shampoo has lots of work to do." She turned around to meet Nicki's hand. _

_Nicki was furious, __she couldn't stand seeing some innocent person getting beat up just for the simplest things. So Nicki decided to set things straight by __slapping the other girl in the face._ "_You didn't have to humiliate him, you know! You could have just said 'No,' quietly." Nicki __brushed passed by Shampoo and__ helped Mousse up on his feet._

"_You dare hit Shampoo?! Shampoo is a mighty Amazon. Shampoo challenges you to a duel!" Shampoo pulled out her bonbori hammers from nowhere, slamming it on the floor near Nicki. _

_Nicki was __surprised by the Ki-powered sub-space trick that was almost unknown in the "normal" martial arts community. She tried to soften the __blow__ by rolling__ away__, but she underestimated the strength__ from the __hit and__ the__ shock-wave threw her into a wall, stunning her__._

_When Nicki stood up for Mousse, he was happy. Not many people stood up for him, especially against Shampoo, __s__ince she was the reigning champion in their village, all the female warriors of their generation respected or simply feared her. He wasn't thinking about the males since he himself rid them off if they only dared to look at his Shampoo…__ He was off in his own little world until he felt __the rush of air from the shock-wave__ in his face. He saw the girl who stood up for him a few feet away against a wall, __dazed__. It looked like she __might be__ bleeding too. He__ didn't know why, but he suddenly felt__ mad. How dare Shampoo do something like that to someone who __FINALLY __cared about him? He stood up, facing Shampoo._ "_Don't hit her!" he yelled at Shampoo._

_Shampoo looked at Mousse with a shocked face._

_With Ranma and the others, they just thought that Nicki was suicidal. How can she stand up to a powerful Amazon? And what if she gave away Ranma? _

_When Nicki was blown away__, __Ranma had to use lots of self-control,__ unconsciously slipping into the Soul of Ice technique,__ trying not to murder Shampoo for hurting his cousin. _

_When they saw Mousse stand up to Shampoo, they decided to take action. They all stood up from their chair and walked to where Shampoo, Mousse, and Nicki were._

"Mousse, what you think you doing?" Shampoo still couldn't believe that Mousse actually told her not to hurt the other girl.

"I'm sorry Shampoo, but I can't allow you to hurt an innocent person."

"What you mean innocent? That other girl slapped Shampoo's face!"

"Whatever the reason, it's her business!"

"Nicki, are you okay?" Ranma asked, trying to snap his cousin out of unconsciousness.

"Ugh, man, what hit me?" Nicki was miraculously brought back to the living, rubbing her head. Luckily for her she is not bleeding.

"That purple haired Chinese chick knocked you out when you defended that dude wearing the glasses." Jackie gave his twin sister the heads up.

"Now, the guy is protecting you." Randy added in.

"What were you thinking, Nicki? Didn't Aunt Ginako tell you about Shampoo from my letters?" Ranma said softly, trying not to catch Shampoo's attention.

"Hey, the bitch was the one who was bullying him." Nicki quickly recovered from her haziness. _She got up and walked towards the Amazon, who was still arguing with Mousse._

"_Shampoo doesn't care if Shampoo goes to jail. She slapped Shampoo!" Shampoo yelled to Mousse, infuriated that the girl slapped her._

"_You bitch, you nearly killed me! I don't know __what your deal is__, but killing someone in revenge for a slap isn't fair__ or even sane__!" _

_Shampoo pulled back her bonbori, ready to hit the girl again. When she swung her bonbori, Nicki __got into a Jeet-Kun-Do stance, ready for anything that Shampoo can dish out._

_When nothing happened, Nicki __was in a bit of a surprise__.__ In front of her was Mousse holding the bonbori in his hand. _

_The other customers __and__ Shampoo gasped __at this historic moment__. _

_Mousse yanked the bonbori's out of Shampoo's hands, throwing __it__ back at her__ in the stomach__. _

_Shampoo __lost her breath and __collapsed under the weight of her bonbori. _

_Ranma ushered his cousins out the café. _

_Mousse turned around and started running towards __Ranma and the others__._ "_Wait!" he yelled. _

_Ramna and __his cousins__ stopped, letting Mousse catch up. _

_Jackie stepped forward._ _"What do you want?" he asked in a menacing way._

"_I just wanted to thank your sister." Mousse turned towards Nicki. "No one has ever stood up for me to Shampoo. Thank you." Mousse bowed in gratitude. _

_Nicki giggled a little._ "_No problem. You should find another girl, someone better than that bitch." Nicki just smiled. _

_Mousse blushed at her radiating smile. __"W__hoa, she's really pretty, for a foreigner.__"_

_Nicki and the others chuckled. "Thank you." _

_Mousse blushed even harder. "Did I just say that out loud?" __'__That wave from the__ Bonbori hit has really shaken me up.'_

_Nicki nodded. She just gave him a reassuring smile._ "_It's ok because you're really cute, for a __Chinese guy__." Nicki kissed Mousse on the lips. _

_The kiss was only for a second, but it was enough to send Mousse to heaven. He sighed and fainted away._

"Yo Mousse, you okay?" Ranma wondered what caused to Mousse act that way.

"I'll let you know as soon as the little pink bunnies finish singing." Mousse responded with dreamy look and a goofy smile on his face.

"Whoa Sis I know that you're popular with dudes but not like this way before." Jackie examined Mousse's condition.

"What can I say, it's a gift?"

"Does this mean we can't eat at this place anymore?" Randy asked like a small child that he is.

"'fraid not little Bro," Nicki answered, "Looks like we're going to have find someplace else." Then she turn to Ranma. "No offense, Cuz, but do you think you know some other eating places where you don't know anyone?"

"Sure, but first we need to get you to a doctor to see if you have any other injuries." Ranma recommended. "I don't think your parents would want to know how you got them. Luckily, I know a clinic not too far from here."

"Okay fine," Nicki felt deflated, "but don't tell my mom and dad that I was in a fight, okay?"

"You three go on ahead, I'll return Nicki's new boyfriend back to that Cat Cafe place." Jackie volunteered as he picked up Mousse. "Easy up there, dude."

"Please little pink bunnies sing me another song." Mousse was still delusional from Nicki's kiss as Jackie carried him back to the Cat Cafe.

"Did you really have to kiss him like that?" Ranma was cautious about Nicki's action.

"Why not? That Amazon girl of yours was so mean to him and it's not like she was going to be jealous about it. Beside I think he's pretty cute." Nicki backed up her reason. In fact, she could still feel her lips tingling.

Mousse had been responding to her kiss somehow… At least near the end.

"Well, I assume that your mom mentioned Mousse from my letter." Ranma reminded his female American cousin. "Just be careful around him okay."

"Yeah like whatever." Nicki shrugged. "Now, let's go see this doctor friend of yours." Ranma took Nicki to go see Dr. Tofu with Jackie running behind. The Randelsons were curious to see the fabled doctor since he was in a good place in what they heard about their mother's plans.

_Dr. Tofu was in his office, going through his paperwork when Ranma and the others came in the clinic. When he heard the entrance bell go off, Dr. Tofu got up to go see who it was. When he saw Ranma, he assumed Akane did something wrong again._

"_Are you ok, Ranma? Did Akane injure you again?" He held back a chuckl__e__. It seemed like every day, Ranma would come into his clinic because of Akane's "rough housing." _

_Ranma glared at the doctor._ "_No. I'm escorting my-uh, my friend. She got into a fight, and we're just making sure she's __okay__." _

_Dr. Tofu walked over to where Nicki was. He glanced at her, noting the resemblance between the two, but he didn't say anything._ "_Ok. Lie down on the table." _

_Nicki nodded, lying down on the table in front of her. _

_Dr. Tofu lifted up her arm, poking her ribs.__He then continued with a thorough western-type medical examination. A few shiatsu pokes enhanced her already well-developed Ki paths to his sensibility._

_Nicki__ just giggled, and Ranma just stared with a blank face. _

_After a couple of more checkups, Dr. Tofu finally came up with a conclusion._

"_Anything wrong, doctor?" Nicki asked. He shook his head._

"_Nothing's wrong. Just make sure you refrain from doing stuff that'll __make you nauseous__.__ You just have a few bruises, but here is a cream that will take care of them in a few days. The hit at the back of your head wasn't a concussion, so you don't have to stay under observation.__" He said, smiling. _

_Ranma sighed in content, happy that his cousin was __fine__._

"_Well, thanks, Doc." And with that, they left the clinic. When they caught up to Jackie and Randy, they decided to go to some random restaurant to finish their lunch__ and Ranma made sure they don't go near ANYONE he knew._

Meanwhile back at the hotel, Nick and Ginako were talking to a detective they called after Ranma took the kids out for the day. They just finished telling him their story about Ranma and the abusive upbringing of Genma.

"... and that's basically the story from Ranma's point of view." Ginako concluded.

"So we were hoping that you would help us on this case, Detective Tsukikou." Nick added.

"Let me see if I got this straight." Detective Horitio Tsukikou was going to give this a lot of thought. He was simply a stout man in his early forties with his black hair in a clean buzz hair cut and Charlie Chan style mustache, and he was dressed in American style clothing that is usually seen in those 1940s detective movies. "Your nephew, Ranma, has been writing to you since he was ten about the abuse that your brother, Genma, his father, gave him during this ten year training trip. And while in those times, he made his own son steal food and other items as a part of his training. Plus, he also engaged Ranma to numerous families without his consent or even his knowledge."

"That is correct, detective." Ginako assured him.

"So now, you and your husband want to make Genma give up his full custody of Ranma so that you can adopt him legally." _He questioned once more. _

_They nodded, making the detective sighed. If this Genma was stubborn like this lady told him, then it would be one heck of a case._

"_Is there anything you can do, detective?" Ginako asked, worried about the sigh._

"_Well, unless there's actual proof, not just a statement, I'm sure we can take this up to court. Do you still have the letters that the boy sent you?" Ginako nodded, turning around to her luggage. She knew this would come in handy one day. She pulled out a large brown envelope that contained__ a certified copy of]__ all of the letters Ranma sent to her. She handed it to the detective._

"_I__ make__ sure that's all of them in there.__ They're copies, of course, but I have still the originals in a sure place.__" Ginako told him, making him nod._

"_Thank you. After some research, I'll try and catch your brother in act. Until then, please don't leave the country." He bowed to the couple and turned around to leave the room. Ginako looked at Nick with a worried expression._

"_Do you think this will work?"_

"_It should. I heard that this detective works fast. Let's just hope that it's fast enough. Until then, I think there's no problem in letting Ranma live here until Detective Tsukikou is finished." Nick reassured her._

"I sure hope so, for Ranma's sake." Ginako felt her husband's gentle hand on her head as he brought her down to her shoulder for comfort support.

Later, back at the Tendo Dojo, two worrisome fathers were desperately trying to figure out how to stop Ginako's plan to take Ranma back to America with her.

"What are we going to do, Saotome? If your sister adopts Ranma, then the schools will never be joined." Soun turned on his water works of flowing tears.

"Calm down Tendo. There's no way Ginako will ever get Ranma." Genma tried his best to reassure his friend, but in his mind, he has some doubts.

"But what if he tells her about our schemes of making him and Akane marry each other?"

"He won't Tendo, not if knows what's good for him." _Genma said with a dark voice._ He worked too much on his no-good son for his retirement to see his no-good sister stealing all the rewards. The boy was his and that was it!

_Back with Ranma and his cousins, they were walking back to the hotel, all full from their lunch._

_"So you're coming back with us, right Ranma?" Randy asked him with his puppy face. _

_Ranma didn't do anything but smile at the little kid. He __h__as__ been__ like Randy, innocent and cute, before his father ruined his life. He hoped that Aunt Ginako will be able to release him from his father's grip._

_"Randy, don't ask him that! That's his decision." Nicki scolded him. She hoped he would. Ranma was a fun person to hang out with, and it would be priceless to see his facial expression when he's finally in the US._

_"Look, we're here." Jackie said, pointing at the tall hotel building. _

_Once they got inside, they headed for the elevator. When the elevator door opened, a suspicious looking guy dressed like a detective walked out. They stared at him for a moment, before getting on the elevator. They reached their floor, and they quickly got out and headed for the room. When they entered the room, they saw Ginako resting her head on Nick's shoulder._

_"Oh, you're back. Welcome home." Ginako said with a smile on her face._

_"Mom, can you believe it? A small box of pocky is $5! When are we going back home?" Jackie complained. _

_Ginako sighed inwardly. This was going to be one long vacation._ _"Sweetie, we can't go until we get full custody of Ranma. Now, we hired a detective to help us out. We're hoping to get my brother arrested, and since __you're__ still a minor, Ranma, you'd need a guardian. During this whole process, you can __stay__ here. I'm sure you don't want to go back there." __She was taking a little risk here since the Court could accuse them of taking the young man from his family, but Ranma was old enough even if he wasn't legally an adult. She sighed inwardly again. Of course, if he was, many of those actions wouldn't be necessary._

_Ranma sighed happily. He nodded._ _"L__et me just go get my stuff." he said, getting Ginako's nod of approval._

_"Let Jackie and Nicki go with you. I'm sure they'll help you." They all nodded, heading back out of the door, leaving Ginako and Nick with a stubborn Randy who wanted to go along with his siblings._

"Perhaps I should go with them." Nick volunteered, "you know for ground controlled just in case your brother tries something."

Ginako was about to debate but when she thought about it she decided it was a good idea. "Well I suppose it could be okay. Just be careful and make sure that the kids don't get into too much trouble."

Nick kissed his wife and catch up with his kids and Ranma.

Not a moment too soon Ranma and his family arrived back at the Tendo Dojo.

_"Should I sneak in, or go in like nothing happened?" Ranma asked his cousins while walking to the dojo he resided in._ Amazing how he was trusting in his cousins already.

_"You should go in there like nothing happened./ You should sneak in." Nicki and Jackie replied at the same time. They glared at each other, hoping the other would step down._

_"He should go in, get his stuff, and get out like nothings wrong." Nicki told her brother._

_"But what if his father,or even the other people in there try and stop him? I say he should sneak in." Jackie argued. _

"Okay that's enough you too." Nick refrained his kids from arguing any further. "Let Ranma decided how he should handle the situation.

_"I'll just sneak in. It's less likely for me to get caught that way. I just want to be out of there as soon a possible." __Yes… He had been right in his decision to stick to his cousins. They were arguing and presenting their conclusions to him. They weren't forcing a decision, or worse, telling him it was his fault that they couldn't reach a consensus. So refreshing compared to his so-called close family and friends._

_Jackie stuck his tongue out at Nicki. _

_When they finally reached the dojo, Nicki and Jackie followed him to the tree that was next to his room. _

_Ranma quickly jumped into his room from a sturdy tree branch and started to pack his stuff. He looked through his drawers, the cabinets, his desk for anything that was important. The door opened, but he didn't notice and continued to pack._

_"So you're going?" a soft voice asked. _

_Startled, Ranma turned around to see Akane. He just sighed. If it was his father or Soun, that would have been a problem, but __Ranma noticed something the odd expression on Akane's face. She looked like she was sad about something. _

'Could it be because I'm leaving Nerima? Nah it couldn't be that. She never wanted me to be here in the first place.'

"I'm just going out for a while." That's all that Ranma could say, hoping that Akane would buy it.

"Oh, okay. That's nice." Akane replied solemnly as she down cast her eyes on the floor.

'That's it?' Ranma was surprised when Akane said that. 'No accusing me of going to see my other fiancees? No calling me a liar and cheater? No malleting me into LEO?' Ranma was going to ask her what is wrong, but every time Akane looked normal, she'd hit him with that damn mallet of hers. So he decided to keep his distance.

"Well, if anyone ask, tell them what I told you and not to worry about me, okay?"

"Okay, Ranma. Just make sure that you'll be careful." Akane tried her best not sound upset by all of this.

"Good then." Ranma just finished packing. "I guess that's about it." The male pig-tailed youth strapped on his backpack and headed to the window where he came in from. "See ya, Akane." He was about to leave when he turned around to look at her one more still looked sad, but she tried so hard not to show it.

"Oh, and Akane?" The youngest Tendo daughter was startled when Ranma said her name."Thanks for everything." Ranma smiled and gave a thumbs up, then jumped out of the window.

_Akane blushed and stared at the ground, hoping he didn't see. She started to regret that she didn't stop him, but at least he acknowledged her. She didn't want him to go to America, but what choice did she have? She wanted him to be happy deep down inside her heart, and going there would make him happy, right?_

_Back with Ranma, he reached the ground easily, scaring both of his anxious cousins. _

_"How did it go?" Jackie asked._

_"Did you __see__ anyone?" Nicki questioned. _

_Ranma hesitated to answer before signaling them to continue back to the hotel._ _"The only one I've seen was Akane, but she looked a bit funny." Ranma replied, pondering over what it could have been. _

_Curious, Nicki continued to question him._ _"Why? What's wrong with her?"_

_"Nothing, its just that she kind of looked... a bit sad When she came into my room." Ranma said, the look of confusion taking over his face._

"Why would find that weird?" Nicki asked.

"Well normally when I tell any body in that house that I'll be going out, Akane always accuses me of seeing the other fiancées then Pop and Mr. Tendo both barged in and saying stuff like how I am cheating on Akane or what an ungrateful son I am. But this time tonight, she just said to me 'okay' and then I left."

Nick put a reassuring hand on Ranma's shoulder. "I wouldn't be too worried about that Ranma. I'm sure she has a lot of things on her mind right now."

"Yeah that could be it." Ranma half heatedly agreed. "Come on lets get back to the hotel before either Pop or Mr. Tendo sees us."

Unbeknownst to them, Akane was watching Ranma and the Randelsons walking away from the house from the window with a solemn look on her face. 'So that must Ginako's family she was talking about.' The youngest Tendo girl retreated back from the window. 'They seem like nice people. Probably can take care of Ranma a lot better than we did.' Akane tried her best to fight back the tears. 'Yeah he would be better off with them. He's their problem now.' But her body and heart betrayed her as she sunk to her knees and broke down crying. "Ranma You Stupid Jerk! Why do you have to go and leave me like this? What am I going to do without you?"

"Akane, Dinner's ready"

Akane quickly dried up her tears when she heard Kasumi. Breaking out of her crying fit. "Coming!" Heading downstairs before Genma tries to eat all the food. "I just hope I can eat as fast as Ranma does." That final thought made her smile a bit.

Back at the Cat Cafe.

A not so happy female Amazon was chopping some vegetable for the dinner crowd but she is still furious about what happen this afternoon. "Aiya, I no can not believe some stupid outside girl slapped Shampoo and not get chance to give her kiss of death!"

"Now now Shampoo don't let that get the best of you." Cologne advised her great granddaughter and warrior in training. "You don't want to be like that Akane child do you?"

"What worst is that Stupid Mousse actually went up against Shampoo to defend that bitch!"

"Shampoo you know very well that warrior like yourself never swears." Cologne lectured Shampoo. "However it was very strange that Mr. Part-timer would try to protect some girl he doesn't know." The elder pondered on this and grasped to an idea. "Perhaps this could be our advantage."

"What you mean Great Grandmother?"

"If we can get Mousse to get interested in someone else, then maybe he'll start leave you alone and find ways to get Son-in-law."

Normally this would Shampoo very ecstatic, but for some reason the idea of Mousse being interested in another girl kind of makes her feel uncomfortable. "I don't, Mousse maybe stupid but he would never leave Shampoo for other girl. Especially one who dare go against me."

"Well just give it time then, he will come around. Speaking of Mousse where he is anyway. I haven't seen him since that young man brought him back here. Looking all in a daze and confused while mumbling about singing pink bunnies and such."

"Don't know don't care." Shampoo answered bitterly, chopping the vegetables at a dangerous rate. "Probably talking to plant thinking it's me again."

What Shampoo didn't know that Mousse was sitting on top of the roof of the Cat Cafe just thinking about what happened today. For as long as he can remember he was in love with Shampoo since they were children and always try to get her to marry him. But now he's not so sure. The male Amazon kept on replaying these afternoon events over and over in his head. From when he told Shampoo to leave the girl alone to when he stopped her from attacking the girl. He never stood up to Shampoo before and for once he didn't feel bad it. Then there was the kiss that girl gave him. Mousse can still taste it as he felt his lips as though hers are still on them. 'Her lips tasted like pink lemonade.' Is it possible that there might be someone else in his heart. He looked up into the moon and saw the image of Nicki smiling down at him. "Who are you?" He asked the girl in the moon. The girl who might one day replace Shampoo.

A/N: Well that was an interesting chapter. The Randelson kids somewhat made an impression at the Cat Cafe. Looks like chaos runs in Ranma's family on Genma's side. Is that a good thing? What about Mousse? Could he be falling for Nicki? Will Nicki return his feelings for her? Should Shampoo be jealous? These answers and more in our on going Ranma fanfic, "Custody Battle".

10,000 yen=roughly around $94 USD

500 yen=$5.00

1300 yen=$13.00

2500 yen=_about $25 USD_


End file.
